Artificial bait.



H. S. WELLES.

ARTIFIGIAL BAIT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, 1912.

1 1 01 223 Patented June 23, 1914.

fe g Zf%a U N IT ED ARTIFICIAL. Barr.

To all whom it may. concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY S. warms, a

' citizen of th United States, residing in the invented a certainnew and useful Improvement inArtificial Baits, offwhich the following. is .a specification.

The invention relates-to trolling and casting, and'the obj ect-ofthe invention is to provide a bait of this class which shall float when resting idly in the water and be automatically submerged a short distance beneath the'surface of the water by the .action of the latter thereon due to the movement of the boat in trolling or the recovery of the line in casting.

The invention consists in certain .novel features and details of construction and arrangement by which the above object is attained, to be hereinafter described.

The accompanying drawings forma part of this specification and show several. forms of the invention as it has been carried out in practice. Y

Figure 1 is' a side view showing a preferred form of the invention as it appears in action in the water. The remaining figures are on a larger scale. Fig. 2 isa side view of the bait shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a corresponding plan view. Fig. 4: is a front view of the same, and Fig. 5 is a rear elevation. Fig. 6 is a side view of a modified form of. the bait, and Fig. 7 is a corresponding plan. Fig. 8 is a side view of another modification and Fig. 9 is a top or plan view of the same.

Fig. 10 is a side view showing the improved bait in its simplest form, and Fig. 11 is a corresponding plan view. Fig. 12 is a side elevation of another modification.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

The invention is based on a popular type of floating bait termed a plug .consisting essentially of a short cylindrical length of wood equipped with hooks and .adapted to be drawn through the water. Many variations of this type are used and in all the forms the bait.is drawn along the surface of the water. In the present improvement the with an inclined face presented to the action of the water, and so arranged as to cause the plug to descend when in action and travel a s ort distance beneath the surface in following the line.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5 incluslve, A 1s Specification of Letters Iatent'. l ma... filed m 24., 1912. Serial in. 711,241.

floating baits for- STATES P TENT OFFICE.

nanny s warms, or new Yoax, N. Y.

the body of the plug wood, preferably semic lindrical in general cross-section, with the at face beneath and having its front face B practically plane and inclinedforwa'rdly and downwardly toward the extreme front edge or nose, and having at the rear an enlargement or boss C with its front face D also inclined parallel with the face B, asshown. The rear of the boss is shown as perpendicular to the under face of the plug.

At a highv point on the face or plane B is an eye E or other convenient means for attaching a line E by which the plug is drawn through water, and on the under face are hooks F which may be single hooks hung as low as practicable or gangs as shown, serving by their weight as ballast for the plug and insuring its proper presentation to the water. Additional or other ballasting means may be employed especially when the sizeand number of hooks is reduced, to in sure the immediate assumption of position on'strikin'g the water in casting.

The upper portion o-f-the boss C is shown as notched or grooved longitudinally of the body A to. provide .a channel as at G, serving to induce a tendency of the plug to travel a straight path in following the line.

The inclined face or forward plane B induces the tendency to dive, while the rear plane D tends to hold the rear end down and cause the plug to lie approximately parallel with the surface of the water. EX eriment has shown that the maintenance 0 this position is aided by the hollowed or curved throat H in the under face of the plug near the front and the slightly'curved forward edge or nose J of the plane B, and that a plug thus constructed will travel in a position parallel with the water surface and a few inches beneath such surface the depth depending upon the speed at which the bait is drawn through the water and the amount and location of the ballast.

Many successful trials have demonstrated Patented June 23,1914. Y

which maybe of light that the improved plu is an extremely efiicient bait for game fis both in casting and trolling.

Figs. 6 and 7 show a form in which the forward and rear planes B and D on the body A are supplemented by an intermediate inclined diving face K arallel with the others, and otherwise modi ed as to form, as

shown.

* Figs. 8 and 9 show a modification which the planes B and D? are similar to the corresponding surfaces in Figs. 2 and 3 but wit-h the body A rounded on the under face.

Figs. 10 and 11 show an extremely simple form in which the body A is a simple cylinder cut'oif at an inclination at one end to produce the plane 13.

In Fig. 12 the body A is of spindle form and equipped with a plurality of disks B*, D and K serving as planes.

The general. action is the same in all the forms. j

Other modifications may be made in the forms and proportions and in the number and arrangement of the hooks or other ballasting means, and in the location of the eye for the attachment of the line or leader.

I- claim 1. An artificial'bait comprising a body of one integral piece of less gravity than Water providedwith means for the attachment of a line, hooks on the lower portion of said body, said body having its front end upon its upper face beveled to form a forwardly and downwardly inclined planesurface to induce submersion when said body is drawn through the water, said body having a hol-.

10w throat adjacent to and in rear of said inclined face.

2. The artificial bait described, comprising a body of one integral piece of less gravity than water, said body having its'forward end upon its upper face beveled to form a downwardly and forwardly inclined plane surface and its rear end having an inclined face, said body having a hollow throat on its under surface to the rear of said in clined front face.

,3. The artificial bait described comprising said boss having its front face inclined forwardly and downwardly, and an eye on the upper portion ,of said front end. I 4

4. The artificial bait described comprising a body of one integral piece of less gravity than water, hooks on the lower portion of said body, saidbody having its front end beveled to form a forwardly and downwardly inclined plane surface and having a longitudinally arranged groove in its upper face, a boss at the rear endof. said body,

said boss having its front face inclined for- I wardly and downwardly, and an eye on the upper portion of said front end, said body having a hollow throat on its under face beneath such inclined front end.

5. A bait comprising a body having forwardly-downwardly extending means -car-' ried thereby adapted to lower the body as the same is drawn through the water, hooks secured to the bottom of the body, and means attached to said forwardly-downwardly extending means for securing a draft lineto the bait.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY s. WELLES.

Witnesses; l I

CHARLES R. SEARLE, ,LILLIAN H. WILSHUSEN. 

